Etymologically
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trapezium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [traˈpɛz.zi.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [traˈpɛd.d͡zi.um][1]

Forms

trapezium n (genitive trapeziī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τραπέζιον (trapézion, “irregular quadrilateral, little table”),[1][2][3] a diminutive of τράπεζα (trápeza, “table”).[1][4][5] Etymonline explains the geometrical sense from the literal “little table”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in a fragment on geometry, which Georges ascribes to Frontinus and Conte to Pseudo-Censorinus, as the name of a four-sided figure with unequal sides.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Besides the geometrical figure, the Roman land surveyors (the Gromatici) used the word for a boundary stone of that shape.[3][7][6] The geometry ascribed to Boethius has it as well, with a variant feminine trapezia.[3][7] Other variant forms recorded by Georges are trapizeum and trapizeus.[3]

Italian trapezio continues the Late Latin word.[6] English took it over in geometry in the 1560s, and the gymnast's trapeze comes from it through French, probably because the bar, the ropes and the ceiling form a trapezium.[5]

Timeline

  • 1560s – English borrows the word as a term of geometry.[5]
  • 1861 – English trapeze, from French, is first recorded for the gymnast's swing.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (geometry) A quadrilateral with unequal sides, a trapezium.[3][7][6]
  2. (surveying) A boundary stone of that shape.[3][7][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.